The main show airs live on DDT UNIVERSE on Sunday 20th August at 3:00pm JST, 7:00am GMT, 2:00am ET and Saturday 11:00pm PT.

I was a guest on the Burning Spirits podcast this week to preview the show. The episode can be heard here.

Now that the 20 year celebrations are mostly done with it’s time to return to Neverland for DDT “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2017”! A lot has happened since Saitama Super Arena. DDT went viral for their portrayal of Donald Trump (even getting featured on @midnight), for having a Battle Royal on a moving train and for booking the Tokyo Dome for an Empty Arena Match. We’ve had the new generation establishing themselves in the main event and even got one to reveal his entire tragic life story because he believed it was all the champion’s fault.

So what’s in store for Sumo Hall this time? The show is headlined by the definitive rivalry of modern DDT, the previous ace teams with the ace of NOAH for tag team glory, hair will be chopped off, the company is put on the line against a wrestler’s romantic life (or lack thereof), two handsome men face off, multiple championships are on the line including a brand new 10-Man Tag Team Title, a new strong lad debuts and there will be some free for all brawls spread around the building.

?. Maybe A Dark Match: Kendo Kashin Vs Mitsuo Momota or Chikara

We’re going to start off with something weird that has been developing over the last week but has been simmering in the background for months. Kendo Kashin is an ideas guy and he never lets something like common sense or reality limit his plans. For his appearances in DNA and Ganbare☆Wrestling during the year, Kashin often threw out challenges for a 5 Vs 5 Elimination match to be held on this event’s pre-show with Kashin’s team representing IGF NEW. Nobody took the challenges seriously. Then this past week at the Ganbare☆Climax, Kashin got into confrontations with Mitsuo Momota. The tension between them raised so high that Kashin is now claiming he got permission from DDT to fight Momota inside Sumo Hall on the morning of “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2017”, at 6:30am to be precise. DDT denies this and also revealed that they do not get access to the building until 7:00am. But DDT is interested in doing some sort of dark match featuring Kashin and Momota. They are, as of this writing, negotiating with both wrestlers to organise a match to take place outside the venue at 6:30am. Momota thinks it is a difficult task for him to commit to but his son Chikara has offered to take his spot. Kashin has also demanded Bomber Saito to be the referee. Momota is against that idea because he knows Kashin and Saito went to the same high school together so there is no guarantee Saito will be neutral. If this match goes ahead does this mean the bout will be a Dawn Match instead of a Dark Match?

Whenever DDT runs in Sumo Hall they can’t help but take the action out of the ring and even out of the building. Gota Ihashi is still cursed to fight for DDT only on the pre-shows because of his status as the King Of Dark Champion. At least DDT is giving him a bunch of opportunities to get rid of it. The rules for his upcoming challenge have not been explained yet but it looks to be a 5 match Gauntlet series, all of them being Falls Count Anywhwere. Mad Paulie, Gorgeous Matsuno and Dai Suzuki are the only opponents revealed so far but the remaining two entries have been kept secret. I have predictions for who they will be. Maybe one of them can be Jun Kasai because he has a habit of showing up for these kind of matches whenever DDT produces them, either as a participant or by getting in the way while working another job. And what if the other was Kota Ibushi? The DDT Falls Count Anywhere matches are right up his alley. Also Ibushi’s first wrestling match after the G1 Climax being a Falls Count Anywhere dark match for DDT in Sumo Hall is the most Kota Ibushi decision he could ever make. I mean yeah, the drama surrounding his relationship with Kenny Omega is captivating and all but you know his desire to Moonsault off of the Ryogoku balcony again is too strong to resist.

Now watch me be wrong and the two mystery wrestlers turn out to be Kendo Kashin and Mitsuo Momota making another appearance.

Not much to go on for this mixture of veteran lowcard and DNA wrestlers. Masato Kamino is the freshest face in the match after only debuting on 5th August. He’s trying to grab attention immediately by wearing a lavish entrance jacket that is allegedly worth 100,000 yen. Tomomitsu Matsunaga reclaimed his Sumo King throne during Beer Garden week. Nobuhiro Shimatani has been the butt of many jokes throughout the year. It remains to be seen if this is just rookie hazing or if this will be his role in DDT from now on. Hoshitango has had a quiet year, sticking to appearances for the more significant shows on the calendar. On the other side Mizuki Watase, Rekka, Diego & Daiki Shimomura have all been hard at work in building up DNA. Diego has the highest profile of all four by being a part of the ALL OUT stable. Watase has shown that when you remove him from last year’s romantic soap opera he has solidly improved in the ring. Rekka sadly missed an opportunity to grab the spotlight when his DDT show in Taiwan had to be cancelled. Shimomura has been able to climb a small step above his generational counterpart Shimatani.

The Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title found its way to Tokyo Joshi Pro when the zombie girl Maho Kurone ended Joey Ryan’s international title reigns. Since then the belt did its thing and made its way through the roster until Cherry surprisingly got involved and won the title. Until now Cherry has had little to nothing to do with Tokyo Joshi, at least publicly as far as I know. But her determination to be the Iron Man Champion led her to show up and win the belt. So when it looked like Cherry would be the defending champion going into this Battle Royal she lost the belt to the brand’s general manager Tetsuya Koda at a fan club event. Koda claims that he wanted to guarantee the title would be staying in Tokyo Joshi and he would have passed the belt over to one of the girls. However he thinks all of them are equally cute so he couldn’t decide who deserves it most. His solution is to keep the belt for himself! It later turns out that Koda is going to a handshaking event starring singer Maria Makino later this month and he wants to impress her with a nice, shiny championship belt wrapped around him. Unfortunately for Koda, him being the champion means that he now qualifies as an active wrestler and he must enter the Battle Royal to defend the title! Further more, the joshi are pissed that he looked past all of them for a hopeless attempt at impressing some singer.

Yuki Ino is the latest in the growing line of DDT rookies to debut on the big stage. The 22 year old university rugby player had several opportunities from other sports on offer but he chose instead to go with pro wrestling. He is pretty strong with reports that he can bench press 205kg, dead lift 300kg and leg press 560kg. He bragged about smashing past the opposition on the rugby pitch and he will do the same in the ring. The kind of attitude might not mesh with another big ego standing on the other side, like say Naomi Yoshimura. The young brute is throwing bodies aside so he can claim to be the new ace of DNA. Now that somebody else of his size has entered the fray things will get interesting indeed.

I have one word for this: Overkill. You noticed how many wrestling promotions have established 6-Man Tag Team Titles recently? New Japan, DDT, Big Japan, Ring of Honor and Lucha Underground have all established such championships in the last couple of years. Dragon Gate has always had them so they can get away with it. Then the zombie corpse of FMW decided to come up with an 8-Man Tag Team Championship last year that has since vanished because, well, what do you expect from Atsushi Onita (Not a singles match that’s for sure)? Well, DDT decided to up the ante once more and create the KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles! This probably came about after watching too much Super Sentai because the title belts follow a similar colour scheme. Red, blue, yellow, green and pink belts are on the line for the winners. And what a line-up of insanity DDT has decided to bring in for the two teams!

Toru Owashi is the captain of the side featuring Kazuki Hirata, Joey Ryan, Saki Akai & Yoshihiko. Hirata has spent the year in muted limbo because his entrance song could not be used on DDT UNIVERSE. He was also deported from Japan and replaced by his Italian cousin Hirata Collection A.T. The cousin’s entrance song was also muted so he was no improvement. When Hirata returned he was told to record his own version of “TOKYO GO!”. Lo and behold he pulled it off! Joey Ryan is coming off of a heated feud with Daisuke Sasaki over pictures of his wife Laura James. Saki Akai’s been making allies with foreigners, learning English to team with them and serving beer inside an empty Tokyo Dome. She also has the right to be DDT general manager for a day. Yoshihiko has just been laying around doing its own thing.

The other team is being led by Makoto Oishi and mostly have a flair for live performances. LiLiCo returns to DDT after her romantic life within the company last year went haywire. Lady Beard hasn’t wrestled in DDT much this year but is always ready to sing his heart out. Super Sasadango Machine will undoubtedly have a PowerPoint presentation ready. Ken Ohka is coming in fresh off of winning the Ganbare☆Climax in his home promotion Ganbare☆Wrestling. There are so many questions to ask. Who will win? Will either team get along? Does Ken Ohka still have his “FUCK” hat? Can the belts combine to form a Megazord? Will this championship have a longer shelf life than the WWE UK Title? Who knows?

We have two charmers here. The kind of people who light up any room they enter. Even though Shunma Katsumata got his start in DDT he first trained to wrestle in the dojo ran by the SMASH promotion. He never got to debut for them and he left before the company fell apart. Juro Kuroshio was also in that dojo and he did get his debut match. From their the two youngsters split apart. Kuroshio stayed with SMASH as it transformed into Wrestling New Classic, then when that went bust he jumped to WRESTLE-1 and became the lovable Ikemen he is today. Katsumata went to DDT where he was among the first generation of DNA wrestlers for the brand’s launch. He then became a pop idol as part of NωA. Now fate has brought them back together in a battle of handsome men. Kuroshio’s jacket Vs Katsumata’s singing. It’s possible Kuroshio’s entrance could last longer than the match. He likes to milk the chants by running through the audience and Sumo Hall is a big building.

Four teams are thrown together, maybe we’ll get some No. 1 Contenders out of it. Keisuke Ishii removed a ghost from his past by going back to the All Japan Dojo he left many years ago to train with Kaz Hayashi. He was taught how to properly use Hayashi’s finisher the Final Cut but he has yet to use it in DDT. Isami Kodaka has been busy running Pro Wrestling BASARA but he is stopping by with his usual Yankii Ni Cho Kenji partner Yuko Miyamoto. Miyamoto is here as part of Smile Squash for the upcoming Dramatic General Election so he’ll be looking for fan votes. Mike Bailey became cocky when he won a Right To Challenge Contract but has been a bit aimless when his cash in left him empty handed. He teamed with MAO once in July and are teaming again here. Kotaro Suzuki & Soma Takao seems to be a random pairing. Takao is still undefeated at “PETER PAN” with an 8-0 record. But given the number of teams in this match it is the biggest threat yet to his streak. Like I said earlier, I expect the winners will be chasing after a tag team championship afterwards.

Maybe I shouldn’t have trashed the idea of trios championships earlier. Then I look at the title history and see that Shuten-dōji became 6 time champions in the space of 3 years. If it wasn’t for the Iron Man Title, this right here would be the hot potato of DDT. Still, a championship is worth fighting for (King Of Dark excluded) and the challenging team are no slouches. Dick Togo is back for a special appearance with two of his guys. Yasu Urano is no longer affiliated with DDT but still shows up for shows like these. Antonio Honda is here to talk about Gon, The Little Fox. What is Gon’s story anyway? Maybe I can fill out the rest of this preview with the tale and hope that nobody would notice.

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You know what, I just looked it up and it’s best that I don’t tell it. Poor Gon, he only wanted to help…

Something drastic needed to be done for this special celebration of DDT’s 20 years of existence. Two of DDT’s most important figures will clash and the stakes are as high as they could be for both of them. Sanshiro Takagi has done it all. He created DDT and over two decades built it up to where they now run buildings the size of Sumo Hall on an annual basis. He even got to headline the Tokyo Dome this year… in an empty arena match. Anyway despite his hard work paying off, somebody out there thinks a better job can be done. Danshoku Dino believes Takagi has taken DDT as far as he can and it’s time for a new leader to take over. Dino should be that leader. So his stipulation is simple. If Dino beats Takagi, Dino takes over DDT! In order for this to go ahead, Takagi had to think of something for Dino to do if he lost. Inspiration struck when Takagi had a private conversation with Dino’s mother. Dino turned 40 years old this year he is still single. His mother is worried that he will live the rest of his life alone because there are not that many gay wrestlers available for him to date. A lightbulb went off inside Takagi’s head and he promised to help her. If Takagi beats Dino then Dino must go and get married!

So those are the stakes. One man’s wrestling empire against another man’s bachelorhood. Such an important match needs important rules so DDT is bringing back the Weapon Rumble. Takagi is a veteran of the match facing The Great Sasuke in 2009, Minoru Suzuki in 2012 and Michael Nakazawa in 2014. Every few minutes a weapon is introduced to the match. What it is could be anything. Bicycles, a castle of chairs, boiling hot stew, giant mechanical fists and most importantly of all, famous wrestlers from outside of DDT could appear. Expect a couple of unpredictable cameos in this match.

DDT are already coming up with ideas if Dino loses and has to get married. Top of the pile is “Danshoku Terrace House”, a reality show where Dino is forced to live in a house with a bunch of other people from all around the world until he picks a partner. Another idea is “Danshoku Bachelor” where 25 men and women compete for Dino’s affections. Both DDT UNIVERSE and Samurai TV! are interested in getting the rights to the show.

Somebody’s going to get a haircut. Daisuke Sasaki has been a scrappy DDT Extreme Champion ever since he won it from Jun Kasai inside Saitama Super Arena. He fought Dick Togo to a 30 minute draw in an Ultimate Submission Match, beat Antonio Honda in a No DQ Match and had two defences against Joey Ryan, one being a Last Man Standing draw and the second being a Ladder Match which Sasaki won. His record as champion hasn’t been 100% but he’ll admit when he’s beaten. Akito has beaten him plenty this year including a singles win during the King Of DDT. Everytime Sasaki lost to Akito he would hand over the DDT Extreme Title to him and walk out of the ring. Akito would be happy to accept the championship if it was an authorised title transfer but a ring attendant would always take the belt away and give it back to Sasaki. It led to a brief period where Akito couldn’t figure out how the concept of championships in wrestling worked.

When the time came for Sasaki to nominate his challenger at Sumo Hall, his usual request for Candice LeRae was declined. Again. Akito came out to challenge him. Sasaki would accept but only if it was Cabellera Contra Cabellera. Hair Vs Hair! Akito agreed because he is willing to sacrifice anything to become a champion again. Sasaki is fine with that. He claims he doesn’t care about his own hair so he’s willing to risk it too. It led to a weird situation during last week’s press conference where both Sasaki and Akito tried to cut off their own hair to prove how much or little it meant to them. Amon Tsurumi had to stop both of them from ruining the stipulation.

The match itself will have No Disqualifications and can only end by either submission, knockout or TKO. Sasaki has more experience in Hardcore Matches but Akito realises he can now use objects to cause even more limb damage for his submission holds.

Shigehiro Irie & Kazusada Higuchi will be the first to tell you they are not pretty boy ikemen wrestlers. They are bastards, guys, lads, YaroZ. The two have found success in the tag division since teaming together to represent the unconventional YaroZ sub-brand. Now as the KO-D Tag Team Champions they are challenged by the most powerful ikemen alliance of all. When Naomichi Marufuji was announced to wrestle on this show back in March I knew that he would be doing something with HARASHIMA. I though it was the perfect fit for him as an opponent. But they thought of a different idea and are instead teaming together. When HARASHIMA lost all of his remaining chances to headline Sumo Hall this year he told the wrestling media it was time for him to do something selfish. In previous years he did what was best for DDT but this year he wanted to do something for himself. Turns out it was to join forces with Marufuji and go after the Tag Titles. Plus there looks to be a business relationship being formed between DDT and NOAH. I mean DDT sent two thirds of NωA over for the NOAH Jr. Tag League. That’s kind of like giving your crush a mixtape.

While Marufuji’s appearance in the match would be interesting on its own, the other factor in the match is the rivalry between Irie and HARASHIMA. Poor Irie no matter how hard he tries just cannot beat HARASHIMA. Time after time, HARASHIMA has come out on top. It’s almost a certainty at this point. In their last meeting in June, HARASHIMA pinned Irie in under 3 minutes and Irie’s only reaction was to storm out straight back to the locker room. That has to be stuck in the back of Irie’s mind. Higuchi’s record against HARASHIMA is only a little better with a pinfall tag team victory earned back in April. History is in the challengers’ favour too. Whenever a high level DDT wrestler teams with a famous outside they usually win the KO-D Tag Team Titles. Examples include Shiro Koshinaka & Danshoku Dino, Daisuke Sekimoto & Masa Takanashi, MIKAMI & Tatsumi Fujinami and Yoshihiro Takayama & Danshoku Dino. The odds are against the champions but they wouldn’t be YaroZ if it were easy.

This is going to be the definitive match of DDT’s current era. So much history to delve into here. Former friends, former tag team champions together, both have been built up for the last 3 years to be the next generation of stars to lead DDT into the future. Konosuke Takeshita has been described as a supernova ever since his debut match in 2012. You can hardly dream of a better road to the top. When you get a significant debut match held inside Budokan Hall you know there are high aspirations for your career. From there you get special one on one matches with Tatsumi Fujinami, Kenny Omega, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Kota Ibushi, Hiroshi Tanahashi, HARASHIMA, Isami Kodaka and Shuji Ishikawa all before he reaches 21 years of age. Then when he does turn 21 he wins the KO-D Openweight Title on his birthday. Like I said, it’s a dream come true. But while Takeshita has been positioned front and centre, his friend turned rival Tetsuya Endo took a different direction in his rise up to the main event spot.

While Endo and Takeshita were on a successful tag team run as the New Generation Combination, they fought each other several times with the KO-D Title as the reason. Whether it was a No. 1 Contender’s Match or a Championship Bout itself, the two were put in enough situations to find out who was better. And more often than not, Takeshita would win. As it currently stands Takeshita and Endo have had 9 single matches against each other in DDT. Takeshita won 6 of them (1 match was stopped when Endo dislocated his elbow), Endo won 2 and their last match was a draw. To make it even more frustrating for Endo, he couldn’t win the KO-D Title after two attempts while Takeshita achieved the goal with the same amount of opportunities. Endo ended up looking like the bridesmaid to Takeshita. So in July 2016 when Endo lost to Takeshita again, this time in a KO-D Title match, he was immediately approached by Daisuke Sasaki to join DAMNATION. When tempted with the promise that he would no longer be seen as a second class wrestler next to Takeshita, it didn’t take Endo long to make his decision and he willingly abandoned his friends to go down a darker path. Since then Endo has built on success while discarding his emotions. Although he’s been accused of faking his new nihilistic attitude to look cool, Endo can back up his actions with the success he’s earned since joining DAMNATION. The latest achievement was winning the 2017 King Of DDT tournament which leads us to the climactic main event at Sumo Hall.

So much has developed between Takeshita and Endo during the last year. Back in April we learned that 60 minutes was not enough to determine a winner between the two. Takeshita had been using the Cross Arm German Suplex for his most dramatic victories but he also developed a new Wrist Clutch Fisherman Buster called the Surprise Rose to put away his more recent challengers. If that’s not enough, Takeshita has one other big match move in his arsenal. He recently used the top turnbuckle Brainbustaaaaahhhhh!!!!! in tribute to his first opponent and inspiration El Generico. Endo meanwhile has turned the Shooting Star Press and Spanish Fly into killer moves. Endo won the King Of DDT with the Shooting Star Press. The grounded version of the Spanish Fly is called Tetsuya In The Sky and it has given him some unexpected quick victories. Then there is his top rope version the Tetsuya In The Sky With Diamonds to look out for. Is it now Endo’s time to shine or will Takeshita continue to shape the future of DDT? We won’t have to wait long to find out!

With less than a month away before “RYOGOKU PETER PAN 2017”, the journey to Sumo Hall went through a lot of bumps and turns in Korakuen Hall today. Konosuke Takeshita had not just one but two KO-D Openweight Title defences, clearing through the last of the Right To Challenge holders. First up was the scheduled main event against Keisuke Ishii. For weeks Ishii had been preparing the Final Cut learned from Kaz Hayashi as his secret weapon. Unfortunately for him, when it was finally time to use it Takeshita countered the move into an Emerald Frosion. Kind of ironic given Ishii’s adoration for classic All Japan that such a move would be used against him. With his battleplan in tatters, Ishii still had it in him to kick out of the German Suplex and some Big Boots. But the Surprise Rose finally put him down for the count.

After the match Takeshita wanted to create peace between his generation and Ishii’s. It isn’t about which generation is better, it’s about doing your best for DDT. He even invited Shigehiro Irie to come out as part of the peace offering. What he got instead was an ambush Lariat from Naomi Yoshimura! Today was the day Yoshimura would give Takeshita his greatest humiliation. He’s cashing in the last Right To Challenge contract for his title shot right now! What followed was Takeshita’s fight for survival as Yoshimura tried to beat him with big move after big move. A high angle choke Slam couldn’t beat Takeshita. A Power Bomb from the apron through a table couldn’t beat him. More Lariats couldn’t beat him. Takeshita finally turned the tables when he escaped the Throwaway Power Bomb and hit back with Lariats and Shoulder Blocks. He was now besting Yoshimura in these sumo-like collisions just like when they were kids. Yoshimura couldn’t handle it and his quest for revenge ended in failure after one Lariat too many. Takeshita won and now has a clear road ahead to Sumo Hall where Tetsuya Endo is waiting for him.

Endo entered the ring to show his disappointment over the result. He thought fighting Yoshimura would be the more interesting match. He reminded Takeshita that it was just over one year ago when Endo joined DAMNATION. A lot has changed since then but one thing remained the same. Endo wants the KO-D Title and he’ll have to beat Takeshita to get it! Takeshita didn’t hold back over what he wanted to say to his former friend. If Takeshita beats Endo in another title match and at Sumo Hall this time then Endo shouldn’t get another shot as long as Takeshita is champion. Endo agreed to the condition. Takeshita then reminded Endo about their 60 minute draw and said everyone at Sumo Hall better be prepared to see another one. He offered a handshake but Endo spat in his face instead. Takeshita remained calm but then grabbed Endo’s hair and pulled him in for a Short Range Lariat. Endo ducked, bounced off the ropes and hit a Handspring Leg Lariat to the champion. He followed it up with the Shooting Star Press. Endo grabbed the title belt and had the final word. Fair and square? Endo isn’t here to kid around. Wrestling isn’t a sport, it’s a fight. Takeshita told him that one year ago. Now Endo will return that message to him!

High risk, high reward was needed to determine a winner between Daisuke Sasaki and Joey Ryan so a Ladder Match was held with the DDT Extreme Title hanging above the ring. Ryan wasted no time when he dove out of the ring onto Sasaki during the champion’s entrance. Ryan later gave Sasaki a Brainbuster onto the ladder outside the ring. He looked all clear to climb the ladder inside the ring and grab the title but Sasaki caught his attention by pulling out a picture of Laura James and kissing it. Ryan got off the ladder but that allowed Sasaki to come back in and take control of the match. Sasaki brought out a trash can to beat Joey up with. He then wrapped a steel chain around his arm and jumped for a Diving Elbow but Joey rolled out of the way. Ryan took out a lollipop covered in thumbtacks and shoved it into Sasaki’s mouth! Sasaki hit back with a Chain Lariat then used the chain to wrap a Cross Facelock on Joey. Sasaki then brought out a barbed wire bat but Joey Super Kicked him with the lollipop still in his mouth! Then Ryan brought out the most dangerous weapon yet… a box of Lego! Ever step on one of those things without shoes on? Then you know how much they hurt. Ryan spilled the Lego onto the canvas and gave Sasaki the Balls Plex onto the Lego. He climbed the ladder but somehow Sasaki recovered, grabbed the second ladder and hit him with it to slow him down. Sasaki then position the second ladder between the first ladder and the top rope. Joey reached for the title belt but Sasaki threw him off with a Back Body Drop onto the second ladder! That left Sasaki free to pull down the belt and stay as the Extreme Champion.

Sasaki celebrated with the title belt and the picture of Laura James. He was approached by Amon Tsurumi and asked who he would like to defend the title against at Sumo Hall. Sasaki said he wants to go to America and defend against Candice LeRae. Tsurumi told him to forget about it because that request is impossible. Akito came out and asked for the title shot. Tsurumi liked the idea. After all, Akito eliminated Sasaki in the King Of DDT tournament and also has wins over him in 3 Way Matches. Sasaki said he would agree to it on one condition. Their match will also be “Cabellera Contra Cabellera”, a Hair Vs Hair Match! Akito accepted because he made up his mind long ago how much he is willing to risk to become a champion again. He’ll bet all of the hair on his head if he has to!

Irie appeared in the ring with his head heavily bandaged for his KO-D Tag Team Titles defence with Kazusada Higuchi. They were in for a fight against the DAMNATION pair of Shuji Ishikawa & Mad Paulie. The four brawled around the ring and it looked like the challengers were coming out on top. Ishikawa gave Irie the Fire Thunder while Paulie hit Higuchi with the Reverse Splash. However Higuchi recovered and sent Paulie into the corner. Irie ran in with a Cannonball Splash to Paulie which stunned him. Higuchi then put the big guy away with the Goten for the three count. The YaroZ were presented with their title belts by Ayumi Goto who herself was wearing the OPBF Oriental Pacific Women’s Super Bantamweight Title.

Afterwards Tsurumi invited HARASHIMA to the ring for an announcement concerning the Tag Titles. HARASHIMA will be challenging for the belts at Sumo Hall with someone who will certainly make DDT more exciting. Out came Naomichi Marufuji! HARASHIMA said he was exciting to put this together. Marufuji wanted everyone to know he isn’t doing this match as a guest wrestler. He is here because he wants to win the Tag Titles with somebody as skillful as HARASHIMA. Irie is pleased. He respects Marufuji and cannot wait to crush him!

Soma Takao must be feeling left out. He returns from illness to win a 4 Way Tag with HARASHIMA then HARASHIMA goes and makes friends with Marufuji for a big championship match. Now what is Takao going to do at Sumo Hall?

Shunma Katsumata Vs Tetsuya Endo didn’t last three minutes. Katsumata attacked Endo during his entrance and tried to get a quick win but it backfired when Endo pinned him with Tetsuya In The Sky. Backstage Katsumata excused the loss by saying he was feeling tired from wrestling in the NOAH Jr. Tag League.

Saki Akai wanted to see how much she has grown since her last meeting with Yoshiko. The result was inconclusive because Masahiro Takanashi pinned Makoto Oishi instead, leaving the two women to glare at each other after the match.

Japanese livelihoods were on the line in the opener. If T2Hide lost then both Hirata Collection A.T. and Gorgeous Matsuno would be deported from the country. But if they won then nobody could ever accuse Hira-Colle of being Kazuki Hirata in disguise ever again. A draw meant only Hira-Colle would be deported and Matsuno would be safe. To make things even more tense the match was held under (deep breath) Italian Falls Count Anywhere Match Scramble Bunkhouse Street Fight Tornado 6-Man Tag rules. Antonio Honda tried to calm the situation by telling the good old summer story “Pirates Of The Caribbean” but he replaced the name Caribbean with Parisian. Danshoku Dino won the match for his team by countering the Hirata Lock into a Cradle for the pin. Everyone celebrated by grabbing Hirata and carrying him out of the building. A message was then produced on the screen advertising Kazuki Hirata’s return to DDT on 30th August.

In the dark match, Daiki Shimomura tried to beat Kouki Iwasaki with Standing Moonsaults. Iwasaki fought back with Knee Lifts and won the match with a Vertical Drop Brainbuster. That is quickly becoming is go to move for beating opponents from the generation below him.

The brand new KO-D 10-Man Tag Team Titles were shown off for the first time. Each belt is a different colour. The belts are red, blue, pink, yellow and green. The first champions will be decided at Sumo Hall with Toru Owashi and Makoto Oishi captaining the two teams. They will announce their team choices at the first Beer Garden show on 30th July.

Katsumata was told he would be getting a special singles match at Sumo Hall. He will face Jiro “Ikemen” Kuroshio! The WRESTLE-1 pretty boy ran around Korakuen Hall greeting the audience while Tsurumi tried to get his attention to keep the show on schedule. The match means something to both wrestlers because they are both the same age and were also trainees together in an old promotion called SMASH.

Miyu Yamashita appeared to promote her match against Meiko Satomura in Tokyo Joshi Pro on 26th August. She admitted she had a bad performance at the press conference announcing the match. Satomura’s comments about Yamashita drove her to tears. Yamashita said when she woke up the next day she threw away all of her admiration for Satomura and replaced them with a desire to kill her in the ring!

The key to the KO-D Openweight Title match will be whether or not Keisuke Ishii will be able to use the Final Cut. He’s been learning how to use the move by Kaz Hayashi for the last month but has not used it in any DDT matches since then. Ishii does not want his generation to be overtaken by Konosuke Takeshita’s generation and he thinks he is the last obstacle to prevent that from happening. Takeshita said that his success has not come from luck alone but he earned it with his power too.

Takeshita gave an update over the events that happened at the end of “DRAMATIC DREAMS! VOL. 4” in Osaka on Sunday. Naomi Yoshimura finally succeeded in embarrassing him by stealing his mother, Keiko Takeshita! He does not know if she returned home that night. All he got was a LINE message from her saying she was so excited by the crowd cheering her name that she couldn’t sleep. Amon Tsurumi joked that Ishii should steal Takeshita’s father as part of his own mind games.

Drastic measures are being taken to settle the score between Daisuke Sasaki and Joey Ryan. The two were both knocked out at the end of their Last Man Standing Double Title Match so no championship changes took place. Ryan has since lost the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title but he is still determined to beat Sasaki for the DDT Extreme Title. Sasaki decided the rematch at Korakuen Hall will be a Ladder Match! There is one slight problem. Normally in Ladder Matches the prize is hung high above the ring. DDT has yet to get permission from Korakuen Hall management to hang a cable from the ceiling to hold the title belt. Consultation is currently taking place between the two parties so there may not be any problems by the time the match takes place.

Ryan intends win the Extreme Title and bring it back with him to America just like he did with the Iron Man Title. Sasaki would prefer for Laura James to be the prize they have to grab instead of the Extreme Title belt. He thinks she weighs lighter than the belt so it should be possible. As part of his training for the match, Sasaki says he has been watching a porno called “Monster Cock” every day. During a photo shoot where Sasaki and Ryan posed with the ladder, Sasaki stuck his arm through the ladder and asked Ryan for a handshake. Ryan shook his hand but then tried to pull it onto his crotch. The ladder prevented Sasaki’s hand from reaching that far. Sasaki then grabbed the ladder and thrusted it at Ryan but it was blocked by his crotch. Ryan overpowered the ladder and threw Sasaki across the room in the process.

Tetsuya Endo has plans to open up a women’s fan club for Mad Paulie called the Paulie Joshi. This show is supposedly going to be the launch day of the club.

If T2Hide lose their match, both Hirata Collection A.T. and Gorgeous Matsuno will be deported from Japan.

The Tokyo Princess Cup final four are Syoko Nakajima, Reika Saiki, Yuka Sakazaki and Mizuki. Nakajima is the only one of the four to have reached the semi-finals in previous tournaments. Her next opponent Saiki is looking to avenge her loss to her from last month. Mizuki is the wild card of the tournament. She’s been undefeated in singles matches since her arrival in Toyko Joshi Pro in April. Sakazaki isn’t worried though. Her confidence is through the roof and she is spending her time wondering how to play with her cute new opponent.

Saki-nami is back in Tokyo Joshi thanks to her new mysterious doctor Yukio Saint Laurent. However Saki is not back in ring shape yet after her recovery from illness so Yukio-san will take her place in the ring for NEO Biishiki-gun’s return match. Rika Tatsumi is angry that the unit was allowed back in to Tokyo Joshi after they were forced to split up. Tetsuya Koda explained to her that SIN Biishiki-gun is gone but NEO Biishiki-gun is a brand new unit. Martha the maid has been proven to be a young girl so she’s okay to wrestle. Yukio-san is being allowed to wrestle because Tatsumi wants to beat him up.

Maho Kurone is already fighting off challengers for the Iron Man Heavymetalweight Title. Yuka Sakazaki tried to pin her during the press conference but Kurone escaped with the belt. Whenever Kurone is not in public she swallows the belt and stores it in her stomach for safety. See, being a zombie has its perks.

Keisuke Ishii spent today training with Kaz Hayashi in the WRESTLE-1 Dojo. The purpose of the training was for Ishii to properly learn how to do the Final Cut. Ishii found the experience nostalgic because it reminded him of his days training at the All Japan dojo. Hayashi then showed Ishii a special whole body exercise he calls the “secret of his youth”. Afterwards they went to Final Cut training with Yuki Ueno being used as the victim. Although Wikipedia describes the hold as a focused elbow movement, Hayashi says the arm should be moved more like you are throwing a Lariat. He also talked about learning the move from Shane Helms during his time in WCW. When Hayashi brought the move to Japan he named it the Final Cut without Shane’s permission. When the session was over both Ishii and Hayashi were pleased with the results. Ueno was just sore. Ishii said he will use the move in his title match when the opportunity presents itself.

DAMNATION get the next shot at the KO-D Tag Team Titles. The duo in action are the two heavyweights, Shuji Ishikawa & Mad Paulie.

A singles match between Miyu Yamashita and Meiko Satomura is set for Tokyo Joshi Pro’s return to Korakuen Hall this August. The match was made because of an incident that happened between the two at “JUDGEMENT 2017” back in March. Satomura pinned Yamashita in a trios match then kicked her afterwards. Satomura at the time requested a singles match and finally it is happening. Yamashita looks up to Satomura and is happy to get the opportunity to fight her. Satomura on the other hand does not have as many nice things to day about her opponent. She remembers challenging Yamashita for a match but now is just treating it like any other match. Doesn’t matter if it’s in Korakuen or Saitama Super Arena, it’s all the same to her. She hasn’t seen any of Yamashita’s matches since they fought and her opinion of the girl hasn’t changed. Satomura’s comments upset Yamashita so much she had to fight back tears as she responded. She may feel miserable now but she is excited to fight Satomura again. It was a big deal for her and Syoko Nakajima to fight with Satomura and Aja Kong at Saitama. Yamashita now wants to bring in new fans to Tokyo Joshi by fighting outside wrestlers like Satomura.

All of the applauding in the world couldn’t get Mike Bailey the KO-D Openweight Championship. He’s been doing it non-stop in the lead up to this match with Konosuke Takeshita and continued when the match began. He stopped when Takeshita dropped his guard so he could attempt a roll up. From there he took the match seriously. How seriously? Serious enough to do a Moonsault from the top of the stairway where the wrestlers entered! However Takeshita wouldn’t be beaten. He kicked out of the Ultima Weapon while Bailey kicked out of the German Suplex. Takeshita had to dig deep into his history and got the win with the Brainbustaaaaahhhhh!!!!! After the match Takeshita told Bailey “You are forever my rival. We are No. 1!” Bailey said that yesterday was Canada Day and he got to celebrate it in Japan. He called Takashita a wonderful wrestler. Bailey then joked by calling himself the worst wrestler in Canada. Keisuke Ishii entered the ring to confirm he will get the next title match on 23rd July thanks to his Right to Challenge contract. He said he saw a great match and he is glad that Takeshita is still the champion. Ishii wants to be the one to stop Takeshita. Also he doesn’t want Takeshita Vs Tetsuya Endo to main event Sumo Hall in August.

At the end of the show when Takeshita climbed up the stairs to the locker room, Naomi Yoshimura was standing at the top waiting for him. He reminded Takeshita that he will take everything important to him one by one. First was the show opening call at Korakuen Hall. Today it is Takeshita’s Gold Gym membership card! However Yoshimura’s evil plan failed when he accidentally dropped the card over the stairs. Akito simply went over, picked it up and gave it back to Takeshita. Yoshimura tried to play it off that he let Takeshita have his card back. He then warned him about his Right To Challenge contract then left. A perplexed Takeshita thanked Akito for getting him his card back.

Hirata Collection A.T. and HARASHIMA did the model walk together after they trapped Soma Takao and Toru Owashi in separate Paradise Locks. When they were finished, HARASHIMA kicked Hirata in the head and then pinned him with the Somato while still wearing the 2017 glasses. After the match HARASHIMA had a eureka moment. Hirata Collection A.T. is really Kazuki Hirata! Takao agrees and has proof. Hirata sat behind him on the tour bus and greeted him in Japanese so he can’t be Italian. Sanshiro Takagi sent Smile Squash off so he could speak to Hirata. He wanted to know if Hirata was Italian then why does he speak in English? Takagi decided to settle this with a Handicap Match on 15th July: Takagi & Owashi Vs Hirata. Owashi asked to be removed but he was ignored. Hirata swore he will prove that he is a real Italian and he will have an Italian revolution!

Saki Akai announced a special tag match for 23rd July. She and Masahiro Takanashi will take on Makoto Oishi and a mystery wrestler. That mystery wrestler was revealed to be Yoshiko from SEAdLINNNG! Akai said Yoshiko was one of her first rivals in wrestling and she wants to test out all the skills she has learned since they last fought each other. Yoshiko told Akai she will give her pain that she will never forget. Akai threatened to kick Yoshiko’s face in response.

A press conference was held at DDT HQ to promote the show today. It is confirmed that Mike Bailey will cash in his Right To Challenge contract to get a KO-D Openweight Title match against Konosuke Takeshita. Bailey was cheerful to a patronising degree. He described Takeshita’s perfect haircut, posture and clothing. Then he talked about wanting to be not just the greatest foreign wrestler ever in DDT but the greatest in DDT, full stop. He thinks everyone will agree when he beats Takeshita for the championship. Takeshita thinks this will be the most difficult title defence yet but he is also aware that Naomi Yoshimura could cash in his own title shot at any time during or after the match. Bailey then heaped more praise to the champion, saying he’s been watching videos and looking at pictures of him for years. Bailey said Takeshita is perfect. He thinks will still beat him, he just doesn’t know how. That led to Takeshita asking why Bailey has been applauding him so much in their matches recently. Bailey explained that where he’s from whenever a strong opponent appears you show him respect. Takeshita finished the call by saying the match is Japan Vs Canada. The international battle will help spread DDT across the globe so that means he will show everyone what a strong champion he is because he is fighting the toughest opponent in the world.

The third remaining RTC contract is now in Keisuke Ishii’s possession. With a new wave of momentum building behind him, Ishii is already planning to strike at his peak. He gets his title match in one month’s time at Korakuen Hall against either Takeshita or Bailey (or maybe even Yoshimura).

DDT plans to run regular events in Taiwan and this is the kick off. A lot of local wrestlers are being booked for the show. They are called Bettas, War Bear, A-Yong-Go, Evil King Kazuya, SAKA, Black Ho, Joker, Porco, Heisenberg and Karas. The DDT talent announced to appear are Sanshiro Takagi, Makoto Oishi, Shigehiro Irie and Yoshihiko.

By winning the King Of DDT tournament, Tetsuya Endo is guaranteed to headline Sumo Hall in the KO-D Title match. As things stand now we are on route to getting the rematch of the 60 minute draw from April.

Danshoku Dino and Sanshiro Takagi clash one on one to celebrate 20 years of DDT.

In his final match under his DDT contract, Yasu Urano cashed in his Right To Challenge contract for a KO-D Openweight Title match. With the rest of Smile Squash cheering him on, Urano tried to use all of his tricks and experience to beat Konosuke Takeshita. But that couldn’t happen. Even Urano taking off his bandana and shirt to fire himself up ultimately couldn’t lead him to the gold. Takeshita put him away with his new Surprise Rose finisher. After the match Takeshita told everyone a story from when he went to a Beer Garden show at 16 years old. He met Urano and was told he could train him. Takeshita said he learned more from training one on one with Urano but there is one thing he is inferior to him. Takeshita thinks no wrestler is more loved by all the DDT fans than Urano. Urano told Takeshita he does not know what destiny is or if he was ever supposed to face him for the title in his final match. He thanked Takeshita for coming to DDT. Urano called him a treasure of DDT and also his own treasure. He then cried and the two hugged.

A loud cheer followed Shuji Ishikawa when he was announced as the Triple Crown Champion during the ring introductions. Following another DAMNATION victory, Ishikawa said he was back home. He won the Champion Carnival then he won the Triple Crown. Now he is back in DDT to do his best for DAMNATION. For once Daisuke Sasaki did not kick and interrupt Ishikawa’s speech. He didn’t do it because he said it is rude to do that to the Triple Crown champion.

Super Sasadango Machine wasted no time in presenting his latest PowerPoint project for his return to wrestling. The presentation was titled “The Importance Of New Killer Techniques In Return Warfare” and it was focused on Sasadango developing a new killer move to use on Minoru Suzuki. He could not come up with any ideas of his own so after using the SWOT Analysis, Sasadango decided to subcontract the Ibushi Wrestling Institute to help him. Through extensive research Sasadango and the Institute discovered a new version of the Lehman Shock that doubles the damage inflicted compared to the normal version. Sasadango calls this move the Ibushi-Style Lehmann Shock. The research costs of this move was 35,000 yen which is 35% of Sasadango’s budget.

For his return match itself, Sasadango took a beating but it wasn’t done out of spite. Suzuki congratulated him on his recovery while he Chopped his chest raw. Sasadango returned some Chops while thanking Suzuki for being a part of this match. They continued thanking and complimenting each other between Chops until they tagged in Sanshiro Takagi and Rocky Kawamura to take over. Kawamura kept yelling “Adrian!” before doing his moves. Sasadango attempted the Ibushi-Style Lehmann Shock on Suzuki but it was easily countered into a Sleeper Hold. Suzuki twisted Sasadango’s mask around so it blinded him, then hit the Gotch-Style Piledriver to win the match. Takagi had some tough words for Suzuki in regards to their upcoming Tokyo Dome Street Wrestling match. Takagi is out for revenge! Suzuki wasn’t sure what Takagi is getting revenge for but he’ll be ready for him. Kawamura also had something to say… “Adrian!” Suzuki struck Kawamura and took the microphone off him.

Akito said he reached out to his overseas connections to bring in ALL OUT’s newest member. “Diego, come out!” It was Guanchulo returning from Chile but now wrestling under his real name. However Diego’s new chapter began on the wrong foot when he fell to Soma Takao’s Sorarina. Takao thinks the win for Smile Squash was good preparation for a future KO-D Tag Team Titles shot.

NωA had a mighty task ahead of them when they defended the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Titles against the International Gay Factory. The biggest threat was Royce Isaacs and his Miracle Ass. The IGF used his ass to break Gota Ihashi’s arm before the match then tried to do the same to Shunma Katsumata. MAO rescued him and tried to stop Isaacs with a Kancho but that only resulted in him breaking his own fingers. The champions escaped with the win when Oishi countered Isaacs’s Pedigree with the Jikiden Tornado Clutch. This means Oishi also won Isaacs’s Right To Challenge Contract. NωA were told afterwards that their next defence will be against Shuten-dōji.

Saki Akai & Heidi Katrina’s first match as a team worked well for them. Katrina knocked Nobuhiro Shimatani silly with a Lariat while Akai got rid of Honda. Katrina then pinned Shimatani with the Leg Drop.

Tempers flared from the Collection A.T. wrestlers when Yukio Sakaguchi stepped on their invisible dogs. Their Model Walk later on was interrupted by KUDO who kicked his way to a Shuten-dōji victory.

Mad Paulie beat Tomomitsu Matsunaga in the dark match. Matsunaga tried to avoide the Reverse Splash but the move got him in the end.

The first round draw for this year’s King Of DDT tournament took place at the end of the show. The matches are Daisuke Sasaki Vs Akito, Masahiro Takanashi Vs Hirata Collection A.T., KUDO Vs Soma Takao, Tetsuya Endo Vs Mike Bailey, Shunma Katsumata Vs Yukio Sakaguchi, Kazusada Higuchi Vs HARASHIMA, Danshoku Dino Vs Keisuke Ishii and Shigehiro Irie Vs Mad Paulie. These matches will take place on 1st June in Shinjuku, the Quarter Finals take place on 4th June and the remaining rounds will happen in Korakuen Hall on 25th June. The winner gets a 1,000,000 yen prize as well as the KO-D Title shot in Sumo Hall on 20th August.

Yuu and Yuka Sakazaki from Tokyo Joshi Pro greeted the audience at the start of the show. They were here to promote the 4th June Tokyo Joshi in Shinjuku FACE where the two will be in the main event with the TOKYO Princess Of Princess Title on the line. Sakazaki said she has not tested the results of her training yet but it will be a memorable day when she beats up the undefeated champion.